WASHINGTON COUNTY. : A467 
is pretty smooth, and the hill-slopes are quite gradual. There are many 
excellent farms, which show thorough cultivation. No important min- 
erals were found in sufficient quantities to warrant practical develop- 
ment. The only coal is the Hobson seam, which was noticed at several 
points on the Wolf Creek waters, although no where thick enough for 
profitable mining. On the land of William Bell, in the north-western 
part of the township, is an exposure of the coal in the bed of the stream. 
The section is as follows: ‘ | 
Ft. In. 
en SARI CST OINC pene Leta oraduanee LOMd Dee cue un uu gh ie daedevebeaeias siemees weesabias 12 @ 
Quan Slips ee eens nee PMR Wea ile arate a Sle AM Aah Raila, CNS 3° @ 
Sea C ODM SOMME AIA Ue POUCA ves cere cecca cocdneacs melecwsesecalerewece Naceen IF to2) (0 
(See Map X1., No. 10.) 
Probably little attention has been paid in Barlow to the matter of 
opening seams of coal, since, as yet, the forests afford sufficient fuel. 
Careful search might be rewarded in finding at some point the coal thick 
enough to warrant working. In this township there are beds of shale 
of considerable thickness, which contain small concretionary lumps of 
limestone in large quantities, so as to give the shales great value for fer- 
tilizing purposes. These shales are popularly called “marls.” A horizon 
of this marl is found about eighty feet above that of the coal seam before 
alluded to. A similar marl is seen near Barlow village and vicinity, 
which is probably higher in the geological series. About one hundred 
and forty feet above the same coal is a stratum of red, or chocolate-colored, 
shale, containing nodules of iron ore. The nodules seen were thoroughly 
oxidized, and changed from the original blue carbonate into hematite. 
The quality of the ore is good, but it would be difficult to obtain suffi- 
cient quantity for the supply of furnaces. 
Many years ago the late Jesse Lawton, Esq., who took a very intelligent 
interest in geology, discovered on his farm, near the village of Barlow, 
the evidences of the existence of an ancient lake bed, and called the 
attention of the late Dr. S. P. Hildreth, of Marietta, who was connected 
with the former geological survey, to it. Several years since I spent a 
day with Mr. Lawton in examining the same region. What I saw went 
to confirm the opinion of Mr. Lawton. I quote from Dr. Hildreth’s geo- 
logical report for 1838 what he says on the subject: “On Mr. Lawton’s 
farm, in Barlow township, Washington county, in the midst of the marl 
region, is a locality of fossil fresh-water shells of the genus Unio. They 
are imbedded in coarse sand or gravel, cemented by ferruginous matter. 
The specimens are casts, replaced by an argillaceous oxide of iron. The 
spot in which they are found has once evidently been the bed of an 
ancient lake or pond. It is now a beautiful valley of a mile or more in 
